Transforming the Trent Valley

River Dove and the Rocester, part of Transforming the Trent Valley - Photo Copyright 2020 Steven Cheshire (Transforming the Trent Valley)

River Dove and the Rocester, part of Transforming the Trent Valley - Photo Copyright 2020 Steven Cheshire (Transforming the Trent Valley)

Transforming the Trent Valley Landscape Partnership

Transforming the Trent Valley

A £4.7m project for the Trent Valley in Staffordshire and Derbyshire

A revitalised and treasured landscape of wildlife-rich waterways and wetlands is being made possible thanks to the ‘Transforming the Trent Valley’ (TTTV) scheme successfully securing a grant of £2.7m from the The National Lottery Heritage Fund in December 2018. This combined with match funding brings the total value of the scheme to £4.7million.

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To find out more about Transforming the Trent Valley, please visit the scheme website; https://www.thetrentvalley.org.uk/.

You can also receive all the latest news and updates by following us on Twitter @TheTrentValley or by liking our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/thetrentvalley/

National Lottery Heritage Fund
Poeple gardening

Transforming the Trent Valley Community Grants

Transforming the Trent Valley is encouraging community groups to plan and deliver projects within the Transforming the Trent Valley scheme area that will benefit the natural, cultural and built heritage of the area. These projects might include building a wildlife area in a school garden, creating an arts trail along the River Trent, restoring part of a historic building or putting on an event to enable children to explore the great outdoors.

Community groups may apply for up to £2000 from the Transforming the Trent Valley Landscape Partnership Scheme, which can be used for up to 50% of the total project costs (e.g. you might apply for £1500 as part of a £3000 project).

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Childhood Memories: Hopscotch

Remembering my childhood memories: Tales from the Riverbank

Tales from the River Bank is an oral history project that will capture memories of life in the Trent Valley. We are gathering people’s recollections and thoughts about the past, present and future to explore how our ways of engaging with the River Trent and the landscape has changed over the years.

Do you or have you lived within the Transforming the Trent Valley Scheme area? Perhaps you spent your childhood living in Rugeley, Alrewas, Fradley, Barton-under-Needwood, Hopwas, Burton-upon-Trent, Uttoxeter or Rocester? What games did you play? Where did you explore?

We would love to hear from you.

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Latest Events from Transforming the Trent Valley

Reconstruction of the Type 24 Pillbox at the National Memorial Arboretum near Alrewas, Staffordshire as it might have looked in 1943/44 after the threat of invasion has lifted. No supplementary defences are in place (sandbags, trenches etc). If an exposed pillbox like this were assaulted, the occupants would have no opportunity for an escape.

Reconstruction of the Type 24 Pillbox at the National Memorial Arboretum near Alrewas, Staffordshire as it might have looked in 1943/44 after the threat of invasion has lifted. No supplementary defences are in place (sandbags, trenches etc). If an exposed pillbox like this were assaulted, the occupants would have no opportunity for an escape. Many thanks to Peter Lorimer of <a href="https://www.pighill.co.uk" target="_blank" title="Pighill Heritage Graphics">Pighill Heritage Graphics</a> for creating the 3d model and visualisations.

Stop Line Number 5 and the Type 24 Pillbox

We know a great deal about pillboxes constructed during the Second World War but there is also a great deal we do not yet know about these little fortresses that dot the British landscape. Transforming the Trent Valley is researching questions such as, who were the pillbox builders? How was the location of pillboxes decided and by whom? Who garrisoned and guarded the pillboxes during the war?

Can you help us to tell the story of Stop Line Number 5?

If you have any information about the pillboxes of the Transforming the Trent Valley scheme area, memories, old photographs, family stories or information that can help answer some of the questions outlined above, then we would love to hear from you. Please visit our website for more information and to find out how to contact us.

Stop Line Number 5 and the Type 24 Pillbox
Restored palaeochannel immediately after being reconnected to the River Trent.

A view of the Cherry Holme site showing the restored palaeochannel immediately after being reconnected to the River Trent. © 2021 Transforming the Trent Valley (Photo by FreshFX).

Cherry Holme: A natural river island restored for wildlife

The restoration works undertaken in September 2020 have reinstated a seven-hectare river island by restoring a palaeochannel to the west of the River Trent at Cherry Holme, located between Catton Estate and Barton Quarry.

The restored palaeochannel includes features which would be present along a natural channel but are largely missing on the River Trent due to a long history of dredging, straightening and over management. These features include deeper pools and shallower, faster-flowing riffles which are essential habitats for fish, invertebrates, and plants.

Cherry Holme: A natural river island restored for wildlife
Transforming the Trent Valley